Review of Last Month’s Minisite Domains
I’ve been doing a running experiment for the last six weeks. Each day I highlight one good available domain and write about why I like it. I pick mini site quality .com names – ones which can easily be monetized. As a domainer, it helps keep my skills up – nothing like instant feedback from a bunch of active domainers to see if a name is good or bad. The results have been encouraging. Out of the last 15 names posted, all were registered within 5 minutes and many were registered in less than a minute.
Thought it might be helpful to share the factors I look for…
- Domains must be .com generic names containing exact match keywords
- The keywords must be relevant and have good commercial value. I measure this by using Google’s sktool, Trellian and Wordtracker to check demand and CPC.
- The keywords must be in the correct order. No misspellings, typos or strange variations.
These types of names get better type-in traffic and are excellent for developing into mini sites. Since they have Adwords advertisers, they can be easily monetized with Adsense/affiliate programs or resold to an end user.
Some of the domains I have posted…
I just updated the complete list, but here are some of my favorites from last month…
- ComposingSoftware.com (1500 searches / .66 CPC)
- CorporateIdentityManagement.com (155 searches /$4.47 CPC)
- ElectronicFaxServices.com (540 searches / $7.45 CPC)
- InfraredRepeaters.com (1800 searches / .60 CPC)
- JewelryRacks.com (820 searches / .88 CPC)
- MBACertificate.com (820 searches / $5.19 CPC)
- POSKeyboards.com (1000 searches / $2.19 CPC)
- VintageSweatshirts.com (440 searches / .67 CPC)
Details
I typically post the available domain of the day betweeen 11AM – 11PM EST. I e-mail it first to my mailing list subscribers, then post a tweet 1-2 minutes later. I try to include a link showing possible uses like a Google search showing advertisers or a list of relevant products.
Since the names are unregistered, people can use their favorite registrar. Usually several people all try at once and the winner tweets in to claim victory. If you are interested, here are a few tips to help improve your chances…
- Subscribe here to receive advance e-mail notification of each day’s name.
- Follow me at @DomainTweeter. I usually post a notice before sending the e-mail and then tweet the name two minutes later.
- Since most names receive many simultaneous registrations, you may want to use a fast registrar and have your billing information pre-programmed. Or use a program like Roboform to fill in your information.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Your service is great, thanks for providing the great names that you do! Took advantage myself:)
Thanks Bruce. And congratulations on getting yesterday’s name – looking forward to seeing what you do with it.
Nice article, and some very thorough research in getting keywords and CPC info connected to your domains.
You may want to consider that spending too much time on lesser value domains (such as getting all the current CPC/search stats together, finding relevant keywords) can be counter-productive to your bottom line. Yes, I just said that! How much is an hour of your time worth?
If you say $25 an hour, then for every hour you spend working on any domain development, you have to add that to your “cost” for your ROI. Sometimes you just have to put the domains into a nice inexpensive service (such as WhyPark.com) and spend $99 for 100 of your domains to get some relevant content on them and bring them to the possibility of SE indexing. Once you get the SE indexing, then your enduser sales is a nice path to follow for potential profits. Not every domain you own needs to have the special detailed attention in order to make a good ROI.
NOTE: I work for WhyPark.com, but I’m also a domain consultant. I see you have some domaining blogs there to the right, but my blog http://www.successclick.com isn’t in there! I don’t think I have your blog on my site, so if you want to do a link exchange, I think your blog is worthy of making it to my list of favs. You can contact me at successclick ___at___gmail.com to talk further.
Nice article, keep up the good work!
Stephen Douglas
Thanks Stephen. I can usually get a rough idea if a domain is worth registering in just a few minutes using basic keyword tools and performing a Google search. I agree that not all domains require full blown development (or even a minisite) – especially where end-user resale is involved.
I enjoy reading your blog and liked your last post regarding domain appraisals. Just sent you an e-mail about the blogroll.
Another great service in my list of bookmarks. I’m going to have to get a twitter now too =)